Terebess Asia Online (TAO)
宏智正覺 Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157) & 萬松行秀 Wansong Xingxiu (1166-1246)
從容録 Congrong lu
(Rōmaji:) Wanshi Shōgaku & Banshō Gyōshū: Shōyō-roku
(English:) Book of Serenity / The Book of Equanimity / The Book of Composure / Encouragement (Hermitage) Record
(Magyar:) Hung-cse Cseng-csüe & Van-szung Hszing-hsziu: Cung-zsung lu / A nyugalom könyve / Higgatag feljegyzések (Az egyensúly könyve)
The Record of the Temple of Equanimity
With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the
Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong
《萬松老人 評唱 天童覺 和尚 頌古 從容 庵 錄》
Wansong Laoren Pingchang Tiantong Jue Heshang Songgu Congrong An Lu
Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 48, No. 2004
Introduction to the Recorded Sayings of the Four Houses
in the Important Engraving of The Record of Equanimity
從容 錄 重 刻 四 家 語錄 序
Congrong Lu Zhong Ke Si Jia Yulu Xu
Translated by Gregory Wonderwheel
Table of Contents of The Record of the Temple of Equanimity
Scroll One:
(1) The World Honored One Ascends The Seat
(2) Dharma's Emptiness
(3) Inviting the Ancestor in East India
(4) The World Honored One Points to the Ground
(5) Qingyuan’s Price of Rice
(6) Ancestor Ma’s Black and White
(7) 藥山陞座 Yaoshan Ascends the Seat
(8) 百丈野狐 Baizhang’s Wild Fox
(9) 南泉斬貓 Nanquan Chops the Cat
(10) 臺山婆子 Old Madam of Tower Mountain
(11) 雲門兩病 Yunmen’s Two Diseases
(12) 地藏種田 Dizang Planting Fields
(13) 臨際瞎驢 Linji's Blind Donkey
(14) 廓侍過茶 Attendant Kuo Passes Tea
(15) 仰山插鍬 Yaqngshan Sticks In A Shovel
(16) 麻谷振錫 Magu Shaking the Rings
Scroll Two:
(17) 法眼毫釐 Fayan’s One-Thousandth of a Hairsbreadth
(18) 趙州狗子 Zhaozhou’s Puppy Dog
(19) 雲門須彌 Yunmen’s Sumeru
(20) 地藏親切 Dizang’s Intimacy
(21) 雲巖掃地 Yunyan Sweeps the Ground
(22) 巖頭拜喝 Yantou,s Obeisance Shout
(23) 魯祖面壁 Luzu Faces the Wall
(24) 雪峰看蛇 Xuefeng Observes a Snake
(25) 鹽官犀扇 Yanguan's Rhinoceros fan
(26) 仰山指雪 Yangshan Points to Snow
(27) 法眼指簾 Fayan Points to the Blinds
(28) 護國三懡 Huguo's Three Shames
(29) 風穴鐵牛 Fengxue’s Iron Ox
(30) 大隨劫火 Dasui's Aeon Fire
(31) 雲門露柱 Yunmen’s Bare Pillar
(32) 仰山心境 Yangshan’s Mind and Environment
Scroll Three:
(33) 三聖金鱗 Sansheng's Gold Fish Scales
(34) 風穴一塵 Fengxue's One Dust
(35) 洛浦伏膺 Luopu’s Prostration
(36) 馬師不安 Master Ma Was Restless
(37) 溈山業識 Guishan’s Karmic Consciousness
(38) 臨濟真人 Linji's True Person
(39) 趙州洗缽 Zhaozhou Washes the Bowl
(40) 雲門白黑 Yunmen’s Black and White
(41) 洛浦臨終 Luopu Approaching the End
(42) 南陽淨瓶 Nanyang’s Clean Bottle
(43) 羅山起滅 Luoshan Arising and Extinguishing
(44) 興陽妙翅 Xingyang’s Garuda
(45) 覺經四節 The Enlightenment Sutra’s Four Clauses
(46) 德山學畢 Deshan Study Completed
(47) 趙州柏樹 Zhaozhou’s Cypress Tree
(48) 摩經不二 Vimalakirti Sutra’s Non-duality
(49) 洞山供真 Dongshan Offering to a Portrait
(50) 雪峰甚麼 Xuefeng’s What?
(51) 法眼舡陸 Fayan’s Ship and Land
(52) 曹山法身 Caoshan’s Dharmabody
(53) 黃檗[口*童]糟 Huangbo Slurping Dregs
Scroll Four
(54) 雲巖大悲 Yunyan's Great Compassion
(55) 雪峰飯頭 Xuefeng the Meal Chief
(56) 密師白兔 Master Mi’s White Rabbit
(57) 嚴陽一物 Yanyang’s Single Object
(58) 剛經輕賤 Diamond Sutra’s Belittled and Despised
(59) 青林死蛇 Qinglin;s Deadly Snake
(60) 鐵磨牸牛 Iron Grindstone the Cow
(61) 乾峰一畫 Qianfeng Draws a One
(62) 米胡悟否 Mihu’s Denial of Awakening
(63) 趙州問死 Zhaozhou Asks About Death
(64) 子昭承嗣 Zizhao Continuing the Succession
(65) 首山新婦 Shoushan’s New Bride
(66) 九峰頭尾 Jiufeng’s Head and Tail
Scroll Five
(67) 嚴經智慧 The Garland Sutra’s Wisdom
(68) 夾山揮劍 Jiashan Wields the Sword
(69) 南泉白牯 Nanquan's White Ox
(70) 進山問性 Jinshan Asks About Nature\
(71) 翠巖眉毛 Cuiyan’s Eyebrows
(72) 中邑獼猴 Zhongyi’s Monkey
(73) 曹山孝滿 Caoshan’s Filial Duty is Complete
(74) 法眼質名 Fayan’s Matter and Name
(75) 瑞巖常理 Ruiyan’s Constant Principle
(76) 首山三句 Shoushan's Three Phrases
(77)
(78)
(79)
(80)
(81)
(82)
Scroll Six
(83)
(84)
(85)
(86)
(87)
(88)
(89)
(90)
(91)
(92) 雲門一寶 Yunmen's Singular Treasure
(93)
(94) 洞山不安 Dongshan Was Not At Ease
(95)
(96)
(97)
(98)
(99) 雲門缽桶 Yunmen's Bowl and Bucket
(100)
The Record of the Temple of Equanimity
With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the
Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong
-One-
A record of attendants freed from knowledge
After studying the comparison of the Nature and the One
Every birth is the native place of a person of the Way.
1st Standard: The World Honored One Ascends The Seat
Teaching the assembly says:
Raised:
One Day the World Honored One ascended the seat.
Manjusri plain hammered and said, “Carefully observe the Dharma of the King of Dharma. The Dharma of the King of Dharma is thus.”
The World Honored One then descended the seat.
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
Can one still see the wind of truth in a single part?
Continuously, the mother of transformations runs the loom and shuttle,
The weaving becomes an ancient brocade cherishing the image of spring.
Without doing anything, what is the Lord of the East leaking?
2nd Standard: [Bodhi]dharma's Emptiness
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Emperor Wu of Liang asked great master Damo, "So, what is the primary meaning of the holy truths?"
Mo said, "Emptiness without holiness."
The Emperor said, "Who is this one opposing us?"
Mo said, "[One] does not know.”
The Emperor did not concur.
[Bodhidharma] proceeded to cross over the river, arrived at Shaolin, and faced the wall for nine years.
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
3rd Standard: Inviting the Ancestor in East India
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: A Rajah of the land of East India invited the 27th ancestor Prajnatara to a Buddhist vegetarian meal. The Rajah spoke the question, “Why don’t you read the sutras?”
The ancestor said, “In [my] poor way, the in breath does not dwell in the realm of the skandhas; the out breath does not wade across the multitudinous causes (pratyaya). Always turning thus are the 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000,000 scrolls of the Sutras.”
[Tiantong's] Ode Says:
4th Standard: The World Honored One Points to the Ground
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised:
The World Honored One, together with the multitude, walked to a resting stop. He pointed with his hand to the ground and said, “This place is fitting to build a sacred temple.”
The God Sakra stuck one blade of grass into the top of the ground and said, “Building the sacred temple is already concluded.”
The World Honored One smiled subtlety.
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
5th Standard: Qingyuan’s Price of Rice
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised:
A monk asked Qingyuan, “So what is the Buddha Dharma’s great meaning?”
Yuan said, “What goes for the price of rice at Black Barrows (Luling)?”
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
6th Standard: Ancestor Ma’s Black and White
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised:
A monk asked Great Master Ma (Mazu, J. Baso), “Abandoning the four phrases and renouncing the 100 negations, I beg Master to directly point to the meaning of that First Certain Someone’s coming from the West.”
Great Master said, “Today, I toiled and am weary and do not have the energy to explain it for you. Take the question to Zhizang, (J. Chizo) and go away.”
The monk asked Zang.
Zang said, “Why don’t you ask the Venerable?”
The monk said, “The Venerable instructed me to come and ask.”
Zang said, “Today my head aches, and I don’t have the energy to explain it for you. Take the question to Elder Brother Hai and go away.
The monk asked Hai (J. Kai).
Hai said, “I arrived at this side, but still I don’t understand.”
The monk raised it to show to the Great Master.
Great Master said, “Zang’s head is white; Hai’s head is black.”
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
7th Standard: Yaoshan Ascends the Seat
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: For a long time, Yaoshan did not ascend the seat. The leader of affairs said plainly, “For a long time the great assembly has pined for you to show the teaching.
I beg the Venerable, for the assembly, to explain the Dharma.”
Shan ordered the bell to be struck, and the assembly collected in the square. Shan ascended the seat and was [silently] respectful for a long time, then he descended the seat and returned to the abbot’s room.
The leader followed behind and asked, “The Venerable happened to come and granted for the assembly to explain the Dharma. In speaking, why did you not let down a single word?”
Shan said, “The sutras have sutra masters, the treatises (śāstra) have treatise masters. [Do you] argue with or wonder at getting this old monk?”
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
8th Standard: Baizhang’s Wild Fox
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Baizhang (720–814 C.E., J. Hyakujõ) ascended the hall. Usually there was one old man listening to the Dharma who accompanied the assembly when it dispersed and left. One day he did not leave. Zhang accordingly asked, “Who is this person who is standing?”
The old man said, “I’m a certain someone who in a former life in the time of Kashyapa Buddha previously resided on this mountain. There was a scholar (or student) who asked, ‘Does the person with a foundation in the great cultivation practice still fall into cause and effect or not?’ I answered him saying, ‘Does not fall into cause and effect,’ and degenerated into the body of a wild fox for five hundred lives. Now I beg the Venerable to substitute one turning word.”
Zhang said, “Is not in the dark about cause and effect.” (alt. “Does not obscure cause and effect”)
At the words coming down the old man was greatly awakened.
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
9th Standard: Nanquan Chops the Cat
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: At Nanquan’s one day, both halls of the East and West were arguing over a kitten. Nanquan saw, proceeded to lift it up, and said, “If you’re able to speak quickly I won’t chop.”
The assembly was without a response. Quan however chopped the kitten into two sections.
Quan again raised the preceding discussion to ask Zhaozhou.
Zhou then took off his straw sandals and wore them on top of his head, and went out.
Quan said, “Mister if you were there, you’d just have been able to save the kitten.”
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
10th Standard: Old Madam of Tower Mountain
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Going up on the road to Tower Mountain (Taishan) there was on Old Madam. Whenever there was a monk asking directions where to go on the Tower Mountain road, the old woman said, “Promptly go straight.”
Just as the monk walked, the old woman said, ““A good exemplary teacher also goes in this way!”
A monk raised it to show Zhaozhou. Zhou said, “Wait and let me investigate into it.”
Zhou likewise did the same as was previously asked. When the following day arrived he ascended the hall and said, “I investigated for you and defeated the Old Madam completely!”
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
11th Standard: Yunmen’s Two Diseases
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Great Master Yunmen said, “When the light does not penetrate and escape, there are two kinds of diseases. One is when everywhere is not bright (unclear) and there are objects before the face. When penetrating and gaining the emptiness of everything, it is like on indistinct ground there is the resemblance of one object (i.e., the objectification of oneness). This also is the light not penetrating and escaping.
“Again, the Dharmakaya likewise has two kinds of disease. One is when you are able to arrive at the Dharmakaya, yet as your grasping at Dharma is not forgotten, afterwards you still maintain views and so fall at the border of the Dharmakaya. Even if you are able to penetrate, to then give up on passing through won’t do (is not permitted). To meticulously examine drop by drop what breath of life you will come to have--likewise is a disease.
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
12th Standard: Dizang Planting Fields
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Dizang asked Leader Xiushan, “Where are you coming from?”
Xiu said, “Coming from the South.”
Zang said, “What is the Buddha Dharma like in recent days in the South?”
Xiu said, “Discussion and deliberation are very abundant in the land.”
Zang said, “We/I struggle thus on this side, planting the fields for ample meals to eat.”
Xiu said, “How does that struggle give help to the three realms?”
Zang said, “What are you calling the ‘three realms’?”
13th: Standard Linji's Blind Donkey
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Linji was going to make known his death and told Sansheng, “After I move into transformation, do not gain the demise of my Correct Dharma Eye Treasury.”
Sheng said, “[I’ll] boldly fight against the demise of the Venerable’s
Correct Dharma Eye Treasury.”
Ji said, “How will you respond if later there is a person asking you ‘how do you make it alive?’”
Sheng then shouted
Ji said, “Who knew my Correct Dharma Eye Treasury would turn to such a blind donkey at the border of it’s demise.”
14th Standard: Attendant Kuo Passes Tea
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Attendant Kuo asked Deshan, “All the sages from before, toward what place did [they] go?”
Shan said, “What? What?”
Kuo said, “[I] ordered a ‘flying dragon’ horse for review, and a lame turtle came sticking out its head.”
Shan then stopped and left (went to retire).
The following day Shan came out from bathing. Kuo passed tea giving it to Shan. Shan stroked Kuo on the shoulder one time.
Kou said, “This old fellow is honestly beginning to glimpse the ground.”
Shan again stopped and left (went to retire).
[Tiantong's] Ode says:
15th Standard: Yangshan Sticks In A Shovel
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Guishan asked Yangshan, “Where are you coming from?”
Yang[shan] said, “From in the fields.”
[Gui]Shan said, “How many people are in the fields?”
Yang[shan] stuck down his shovel, folded his hands and stood there.
[Gui]shan said, “On South Mountain there are a great many people mowing thatch.”
Yang picked up the shovel then walked away.
16th Standard: Magu Shaking the Rings
Teaching the assembly saying:
Raised: Magu holding the [staff of] rings* arrived at Zhangjing and went around the meditation bench three full circles, shook the [staff of] rings once and next stood there stately.